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Tags Western Balkans

Tag: Western Balkans

Bojana Zorić: Media literacy is crucial in addressing the problem of foreign interference, the youth is a critical voice in addressing the security challenges

The security problems in the Western Balkans are now also related to disinformation and fake news which try to destabilize the region and may hinder realization of the most important strategic objectives in the Western Balkans. On this topic and others, Portalb.mk conducted an interview with Bojana Zorić, an expert on security issues in the Western Balkans. She emphasizes...

Germany, Slovenia aim to push EU accession for the Western Balkans

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Slovenian counterpart Tanja Fajon want to work together to boost the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union, they said at talks in Ljubljana on Tuesday, writes German news agency DPA. "It is our common goal to promote the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU," Baerbock said. Both...

NMacedonia’s FM Osmani: Russia destabilizes the Western Balkans with visible steps

Bujar Osmani, the current Chairman of the OSCE and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, said today that the Russian Federation is a factor of destabilization in the Western Balkans region. Unlike the US and EU support for N.Macedonia and the entire region, Russia does not play the identical role in the Western Balkans, he said. “The Russian Federation...

Petra Balažič: Youth should be able to recognize disinformation with malign intent

Meta.mk spoke with Petra Balažič from the Slovenian Center for European Perspective, which works in the Western Balkans region in dealing with disinformation. Answering our questions, she pointed out that spreading of disinformation is a matter of security and stability of the countries of the Western Balkans, but also that different age groups in societies should be approached differently...

QAnon Propaganda for Satanizing NATO and EU

Two theses in this post – the one on ”the satanic NATO” and that on “the pedophile EU” – look too much alike to the disinformation propaganda spread by the Kremlin about the West, in the attempt to justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. There were numerous attempts in the past by these conspiracy groups, which promote the combined...

Wagner recruitment of volunteers in the region neither confirmed, nor denied

The paramilitary group Wagner, by means of a paid announcement on 5th January on Russia Today Balkan in Serbian language, called for all potential volunteers from Serbia to join the war in Ukraine, writes Truthmeter.mk. Under the content-sharing agreement between Truthmeter.mk and Meta.mk, we republish the text below:   Under the title ”Wagner publishes a call for volunteers; conditions are more than...

“E-Society.mk”: The fight against disinformation requires transparent institutions, active media and civil society efforts

(This content is a translation of the original article in Macedonian, published on the 7th of December 2022) To minimize the negative effects of disinformation on democracy, we must jointly fight it. For that to happen, the institutions must be transparent and the media and the civil society must actively be checking and debunking disinformation. Media education on critical thinking...

“е-Society.mk”: The best cybersecurity weapons are the prevention and the education of the society

(This content is a translation of the original article in Macedonian, published on the 6th of December 2022) We must have trained and educated citizens with both knowledge and skills if we want to counteract the cybersecurity challenges, while the country must be efficient and provide appropriate legislation. This, among the other things, was highlighted in the panel discussion “Cybersecurity...

“e-Society.mk”: Where are the Balkans in the Digital Agenda?

(This content is a translation of the original article in Macedonian, published on the 6th of December 2022) The first panel discussion of the 18th international conference e-Society.mk, which started on the 6th of December, was devoted to the topic “Digital Agenda Observatory – Where is the Western Balkans now?” The EU Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans was adopted...

e-Society.mk annual conference opened, cyber resilience for freedom and security in focus

(This content is a translation of the original article in Macedonian, published on the 6th of December 2022) Metamorphosis Foundation for the 18th time organized the international e-Society.mk conference, which started on the 6th of December. The two-day conference in the Marriott hotel in Skopje with the motto “Cyber Resilience for Freedom and Security” started in a completely full room,...

Portalb.mk’s Editor-in-Chief Zylbeari: Fight against disinformation expands, we can counteract disinformation with coordinated actions

As fact-checkers, we have faced many attacks in our work, but that is our routine challenge. I wouldn't like to forecast how the war against the disinformation will end, I just see it as a hybrid war and it will step up. However, with coordinated actions, we can become more resilient. We can start engaging everyone in the society,...

Violence against women has been promoted in the Balkans through popular music for 40 years

Ana Ninković, a student at the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade caused numerous reactions on the social networks with her documentary film "Violence against women in the domestic songs" that she produced for her exam in "Pop Culture: From digital to trans-media", and through which she is examining the violence against women through music, turbo-folk, pop, rap and...

Ibraimi: There are indications that the Russian influence will continue in the Balkans despite the war in Ukraine

In general, I do not believe that the Russian disinformation campaign and the current support of the misperception about the war in Ukraine will affect the possible change of the foreign policy of N. Macedonia. There are currently no real opportunities for war in the Balkans. Russian disinformation by hybrid means continues to spread, giving a vain hope to...

Rama: External forces court the Western Balkans, but there will be no renunciation of the EU membership

It is frustrating to wait, but Western Balkan leaders need to reject proposals from foreign powers and maintain faith in EU membership, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appealed in an interview with the Financial Times “Others can bring money, investment, maybe even caviar, but they will not be able to bring what you need to build a functioning free country,”...

Analysts comment North Macedonia prime minister’s resignation: Political crisis imminent

The news of the resignation of the prime minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, both from the government and from the helm of his SDSM political party has been broadcasted by the most influential international news agencies and media around the world. Zaev yesterday evening, just a few hours after the runoff local elections in North Macedonia, which brought a...

Stanka Parac Damjanović, Balkan Network for Local Democracy: CSOs and local authorities are the “natural” partners

Stanka Parac Damjanovic, senior trainer and pedagogue, has a long standing professional experience as an NGO practitioner working in civil society development, education for active citizenship and good governance at local level. Her primary area of engagement is related with capacity building, research and awareness raising activities targeting civil society organisations and local self-governments. Long years of working with...

Comparative analysis: Citizen participation in Western Balkans

Under the work of the project “CSOs Networking for Better Local Democracy in the Balkans", funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and implemented by the Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN), three comparative studies were done that examine the level of citizen participation in decision-making locally within the WB6. Each of them takes an extensive analysis...

Looking forward and looking back – Experience of regional CSOs co-operation and networking in the Western Balkans

Regional CSOs networking in the Balkans has become an increasingly challenging effort for the most of organizations engaged in regional initiatives fostering human rights, democracy, good governance, rule of law, reconciliation or socio economic development. One can note at least three reasons for this unenviable situation facing both formal and informal regional CSO networks since 2020 – Covid 19...

Openness Index: Government of North Macedonia first, Parliament third in Western Balkans

According to the latest Openness Index, which ranked four countries from the Western Balkans - North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. their governments and parliaments, the Government of North Macedonia was ranked first on the list, while the country's Parliament was ranked third. The evaluation of the state of good governance of the parliaments and the executive...

Zaev, Vucic and Rama signed the first official documents of the OpenBalkan Initiative

As the first important steps of a new and concrete impulse to promote regional co-operation within the framework of the "OpenBalkan" Initiative, North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, yesterday signed the Agreement on Cooperation in Protection and Rescue Operations in Natural Disasters in the Western...